San Francisco State University

VESi recommends that you check with your school district and/or state licensing agency to verify these course offerings will meet your district and/or state requirements for salary advancement and/or state certificate re-licensure.

Advanced Classroom Management: Children as Change Agents

Semester Credits: 2 Fee: $375

Course Description

Geared primarily for professionals (e.g., regular or special educators, instructional assistants, school psychologists, counselors) serving children and youths presenting behavior problems in the school or community, this course focuses on cognitive and cognitive-behavioral interventions (often lumped together under the rubric “social skills”) with an emphasis on teaching students how to change and manage their own behavior. Since previous knowledge and understanding of traditional behavioral (operant) concepts and strategies is required, it is strongly recommended that you take an introductory behavior management course to learn the basic terms and concepts of behavior management prior to taking this advanced course.

This course will help the learner achieve a better understanding of ADD and intervention strategies to facilitate positive student change. Taught by Mick R. Jackson MS/ED, this course covers the history of the disorder, accepted methods to assess and identify students with the disorder, and various methods, medications, and strategies that are currently used to treat it. For situations in which services beyond what can be provided in the classroom are required, the referral process for getting help for the student will be addressed. Reference materials include a list of resources for both teachers and parents who would like more help or information about ADD or ADHD.

This course describes Autism and Asperger's Disorder, including characteristics of these disorders, associated learning styles, communication weaknesses, and various intervention strategies. The course helps the learner understand why individuals with Autism spectrum disorders behave the way they do, and what you can do to enhance more appropriate behavior. This course also lists resources for educators, related service personnel, and parents who want more help or information on Autism and Asperger's Disorder.

Behavior is Language: Strategies for Managing Disruptive Behavior

Semester Credits: 3 Fee: $550

Course Description

This course is designed to give the learner a new perspective on student behavior and effective tools to facilitate positive student change. Taught by Mick R. Jackson MS/ED, this course provides a developmental framework to help the learner understand what students are trying to communicate through the "language" of their behavior. Topics covered include behavioral techniques and intervention strategies that remediate disruptive behaviors, reduce power struggles while increasing classroom control, reduce educator workload, and help prevent burnout. After successfully completing this course, the educator and his/her students will be better equipped to find and implement creative, effective solutions to behavioral problems.

Child Abuse: Working with Abused & Neglected Children

Semester Credits: 2 Fee: $375

Course Description

Designed to help the learner identify and effectively teach students affected by child abuse and/or neglect, this course covers how to recognize the signs of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and physical and emotional neglect in students. It also discusses the specific factors that exist in families who abuse or neglect their children. A major emphasis in this course is on helping the participant understand the special learning needs of abused or neglected children and how to meet those needs in the regular classroom. Working with parents and community agencies is also emphasized.

Note: This course meets the child abuse and neglect educational requirement in most states. It is the responsibility of the student to verify the course content with his or her specific state professional licensing agency to ensure proper credit.

Drugs & Alcohol in Schools: Understanding Substance Use & Abuse

Semester Credits: 2 Fee: $375

Course Description

This course is designed to help the learner gain a more comprehensive understanding of alcohol, drugs, and their influences in the classroom. It provides a contextual framework for understanding what students may be experiencing either through their own substance use or as a result of the substance use of persons close to them and provides a basic historical perspective of substance use along with the biological, psychological, and social factors that comprise the disease of addiction. Upon course completion, the learner will better understand the complex dynamics that contribute to this biological and social phenomenon.

Harassment, Bullying & Cyber-Intimidation in Schools

Semester Credits: 2 Fee: $375

Course Description

Harassment, Bullying & Cyber-Intimidation in Schools will discuss definitions and the personal, social, and legal ramifications associated with sexual harassment, bullying, and cyber-intimidation. The course will address what we know about these troubling areas. We will then explore preventative strategies as well as how school staff can address these issues when they occur. A clear understanding of what constitutes harassment and the harmful effects of harassment on people and institutions is essential to providing a safe and inclusive school environment for all.

Inclusion: Working with Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms

Semester Credits: 2 Fee: $375

Course Description

This course is designed to help special and general educators gain a better understanding of inclusion, one of the current educational reform movements that advocates educating students with disabilities in the general education classrooms. Upon course completion, the learner will be able to define key concepts and terms, identify and describe federal legislature and court cases, and list and describe the federal definition of students entitled to special services. This course will also discuss the roles and responsibilities of educators in providing special services to students educated in inclusive classrooms.

This course describes diverse theoretical approaches to handling learning disabilities in the classroom. Taught by Dr. Bob Pillay, it lays the foundation for sensitive, appropriate assessment and evaluation of students. In addition, this course covers program planning and implementation, stresses the importance of a close, positive partnership with parents or alternative caregivers, and explores methods for ensuring that the home-school axis is effective and meaningful. Major trends and unresolved issues in the field of learning disabilities are also discussed.

Talented & Gifted: Working with High Achievers

Semester Credits: 2 Fee: $375

Course Description

This course provides information on the history of exceptional students in relation to education, current law, and accepted methods for referral, assessment, and identification. It covers major program models and methods of differentiating instruction to meet the rate and level of learning of those students identified. The course gives the learner an understanding of ways to meet the affective needs of the gifted and talented student in the regular classroom and lists resources for teachers and parents who would like more information about the talented and gifted.

Teaching Diversity: Influences & Issues in the Classroom

Semester Credits: 2 Fee: $375

Course Description

Designed to give the learner the knowledge, tools, and dispositions to effectively facilitate a diverse classroom, this course teaches how to understand and identify differences in approaches to learning and performance, including different learning styles and ways in which students demonstrate learning. An emphasis in this course is on understanding how students' learning is influenced by individual experiences, talents, disabilities, gender, language, culture, and family and community values. The learner is challenged to apply knowledge of the richness of contributions from our diverse society to the teaching field.

This course is designed to help classroom teachers, school counselors, and other educational personnel gain strategies to reach and teach students who have been affected by stress, trauma, and/or violence. Participants will learn the signs and symptoms of stress and trauma and explore how stress, violence, and trauma affect a student's learning, cognitive brain development, and social-emotional development. The short- and long-term consequences of being exposed to stress, trauma, or violence, as well as the social and family causes, will be reviewed. The dynamics of domestic violence and community violence are also discussed, as is the educator's role in the intervention and prevention of violence.

Understanding Aggression: Coping with Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom

Semester Credits: 3 Fee: $550

Course Description

This course includes topics on violence, aggression in the classroom, youth gangs, aggression in sports and on television, how drugs and alcohol play a role in aggression and violence, and "hot spots" that tend to breed aggression and violence. It is designed to help school personnel become more aware of the causes of aggression and ways to evaluate it and intervene before it turns to violence in the schools. The course also discusses aggression in our communities through driving, dating, sports, television, and music, and how these issues are dealt with in modern society.

This course is designed to give participants an understanding of school violence and increase intervention strategies. Taught by Dr. Michael Sedler, the course provides an overview of violence and the motivational purposes behind aggression. The correlation and impact of the media, community, and family upon violence is investigated. The learner will gain an understanding of identification and intervention approaches to working with out-of-control behaviors. In addition, information about the national resources available for both parents and teachers is covered. Upon successful completion of this course, participants will have a better understanding of violence and the motivations behind its use, as well as specific strategies to minimize the occurrence of violence in the school and community.